


Sick Day

by nothlits



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Doting boyfriend, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 07:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19371937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothlits/pseuds/nothlits
Summary: Mishima has never heard of self-care. Caring for others is Ren's middle name.





	Sick Day

It started with sniffles.

Ren noticed it before he did. They were sitting across from each other at their usual booth at the diner, and a hush had fallen over them while they looked at the menus in front of them. Mishima was so absorbed that he didn't even realize he was doing it until Ren spoke up.

"You getting sick?" He peered at Mishima over his own menu, expression full of curiosity and concern.

"Huh?" He sniffled again and it finally clicked. "Oh. Uh, I don't know. Maybe just allergies." 

"You don't have allergies, Yuuki." Ren set his menu down and leaned his cheek on his hand. "Do you feel feverish? Does your throat hurt?" 

Ren had immediately gone into full maternal mode at even the slightest suggestion that his boyfriend might be coming down with something, and while it was very endearing, it was also embarrassing. Mishima had to look away.

"No, no. I'm totally fine--" His body betrayed him and he sniffled again. "Maybe I just need something to clear my system out." 

Just then, the waiter came by and Ren flagged him down to order a chamomile tea with honey and lemon. 

"It'll be good for your throat." Ren's expression broke into a smile when he noticed Mishima's pouting. "Don't look at me like that, I'm just trying to look out for you." He reached across the table and put his hand on Mishima's.

Mishima sighed and resigned himself to the small smile taking over his face as he let his hand be held. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. I'm gonna be fine though. You don't need to worry."

"Promise me you'll go to bed when you get home and drink plenty of water and take some medicine and I'll promise you that I will make somewhat of an effort to not worry." Ren smirked and squeezed his hand.

"That's not a very fair deal!" His voice cracked and he raised his arm to cough into his elbow. When he looked back up, Ren was raising an eyebrow at him. "Stop! I'm fi--" He coughed again. "Fine." 

"You're going right to bed." Ren pulled his hand away as the waiter came by to drop off Mishima's tea.

They placed their orders and Mishima resumed his pouting while taking small sips of his tea and trying to muffle his coughs. Ren made a few more comments about what he needed to do to best fend off this impending sickness, dropping in some oddly specific pharmacology facts that Mishima didn't understand. He just nodded and tried to ignore how cloudy his head was starting to feel. 

Ren walked him back to the station after their meal where they parted ways. Instead of their usual goodbye kiss, they shared a quick but tight hug. Mishima was given yet another briefing on self-care instructions, and then Ren left him to jump onto his train back home.

Mishima didn't show up to school the next day. Ren had half expected it, and he was relieved that his boyfriend who constantly overexerted himself had chosen to stay home and hopefully rest rather than drag himself to school in a fever-induced fugue state. 

After school, he gathered up Mishima's homework from Kawakami and took a train over to see him. He had sent a few texts during lunch and gotten a few responses back, though they had been very spaced out. Mishima had, apparently, been in and out of sleep at the time.

Ren stopped at a drugstore on the way over and picked up a few things: cough suppressant, painkillers, tea bags, tissues, a bar of high-end chocolate just to make Mishima smile. 

He was let into Mishima's home and quietly opened the door to his bedroom in case he was sleeping. Instead, Mishima was upright in bed, looking absolutely dreadful, laptop open to the Phansite in front of him. 

He squeaked an excuse for a greeting that sounded more pathetic than anything. 

Ren reached over, shut his laptop, and plopped down his bag of offerings on top of it. "You're supposed to be _resting_." 

"I rested _all day_ …" Mishima whined and sounded even more pitiable. His voice was hoarse and even quieter than usual. "I have too much work to do…"

"You can do it when you're not dying of the plague." Ren started digging through the bag he had brought. "Have you taken anything?" Mishima hesitated and then looked away. "You haven't taken _anything_? Yuuki, please, you're killing me." 

"I'm sorry… I just was asleep and then I've been working, so I just forgot…" 

Ren pulled out the medicine he'd brought and looked around for a glass of water. He didn't find one. He fixed his eyes on Mishima, sighed, then grabbed the box of tea bags and went to the kitchen.

He returned with a mug of tea and a cup of water and set both next to the bed. Mishima quietly thanked him and took the pills he had been provided. Ren, satisfied with seeing his boyfriend medicated, crawled over him and settled next to him on the bed on his side. Mishima lowered himself back down and Ren pressed his lips to the side of his head.

"I'm sorry I'm so bad at this. I know you're probably disappointed…" Mishima turned his head to meet Ren's eyes. His own were red and puffy and heavy-lidded. 

"I am never disappointed in you, baby… I'm just worried cuz I know you'd work yourself to death if nobody stopped you. You're passionate and driven and I love that about you, but you also need to take time right now to let your body recover." Ren pulled him in closer so he could rest his head on his chest. Mishima resisted.

"You're gonna get sick too if you stay this close. You shouldn't even be in here with me." 

"I have a very strong immune system. I'll risk it." Ren kissed his head again and he let himself be pulled in. 

Within minutes, he was fast asleep. 

A week later, Mishima showed up to Leblanc's attic with a bag of cold medicine and a mouth full of _I told you so_ 's.


End file.
